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WATCH General Killed in Afghanistan Returns Home

By: Traci Romero

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WATCH General Killed in Afghanistan Returns Home - Video

As a former World Bank official, Afghanistan's new president has helped develop economic programs for Russia, India and China. But it is in his homeland that Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai faces the greatest fiscal challenge of his career.

As coalition troops depart and with future foreign aid levels uncertain, Afghanistan is racked by an estimated 35% unemployment rate and a notable dip in small-business activity since the spring. Ghani, a former Afghan finance minister, acknowledges that the road forward will be difficult.

"We are no longer in a light recession; it's either a very deep, biting recession or the beginning of a depression," he told reporters recently.

In 2012 alone, Afghanistan received $6.7 billion in foreign assistance. But today Ghani must keep a realistic outlook, recognizing that 13 years of corruption allegations do not instill confidence in world capitals weary of their already lengthy involvement in the country.

"2015 is not 2009," Ghani said. "Tens of billions of dollars of assistance and hundreds of thousands of international soldiers are not going to show up.... International assistance requires accountability."

Washington says it remains committed to "seeing Afghanistan succeed" but plans to take a cautious economic approach.

James B. Cunningham, the U.S. ambassador, said at a recent news briefing that the chances of any "new money" being filtered into the country were low.

For the 32 million Afghans now led by Ghani, the presidential campaign marked a long period of uncertainty that many worry could be a precursor to even more difficult times ahead.

Ghani has said that during the 10-month campaign Afghanistan lost an estimated $5 billion to $6 billion in economic activity because of investor and consumer unease.

In Kabul, the capital, building painter Toryalai has begun working instead as a taxi driver to make ends meet. The 27-year-old, who, like many Afghans, goes by one name, said the economic burdens of being newly engaged and not having enough work have led him to think about suicide.

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Afghanistan's new president faces a campaign-scarred economy

The White House National Security Council announced late Thursday that it was transferring a terrorism detainee from Afghanistan into U.S. law enforcement custody to face federal charges in this country in a civilian court.

Administration officials said they were prevented by law from naming the detainee, noting that no criminal charges had been publicly released. But sources described him as a Russian caught five years ago fighting alongside insurgents in Afghanistan. He was wounded after allegedly leading attacks against U.S. troops.

Bernadette Meehan, an NSC spokeswoman, said the man was being held at a Parwan detention facility in Afghanistan and now will be transferred to law enforcement custody and will be brought to the United States for trial.

Meehan said that the Afghan government on Feb. 1 will be responsible for all detention facilities there. Therefore, she said, the presidents national security team examined this matter and unanimously agreed that prosecution of this detainee in federal court was the best disposition option.

She added that since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the government has convicted hundreds of individuals charged with terrorism-related offenses in the federal court system.

The system has repeatedly proven that it has the flexibility to successfully handle all variations of the threat that we continue to face, she said.

Congress has passed legislation barring detainees at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, from being transferred to the U.S. for prosecution. But there is no ban against sending prisoners from abroad directly to the U.S. for prosecution.

Follow me @RickSerranoLAT for more stories

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Detainee in Afghanistan to face charges in U.S. court, officials say

Afghanistan has always kept its secrets to itself.

When Swedish journalist Jenny Nordberg visited the home of an Afghan parliamentarian, she was surprised to hear one of the politicians daughters declare of another child she had assumed was her six-year-old brother: Its true, he is our little sister.

The comment exposed a striking truth about girls growing up in Afghanistan, the worst place in the world to be born female, according to the United Nations.

The more Nordberg looked into it, the more examples she found of Afghan parents raising daughters as boys to escape at least until puberty the harsh realities of life as a girl. The practice has a name: bacha posh which means dressed like a boy in Dari.

The result after several years of investigation is The Underground Girls of Kabul, published by Crown Publishers in New York. Reuters spoke to the author about her research.

Q: How difficult was it to research the book?

A: At first I talked to the experts on Afghan history and culture and I was thoroughly dismissed by them, but I still knew that there had to be others. It turned out every single Afghan I asked knew someone my cousin, my great grandmother, or a teacher, a doctor. It became clear right away this was something Afghans were very aware of.

What was difficult was to connect to them. This is a closed society. To get the actual introduction took a lot of time. It took some very skilled Afghan interpreters. Afghans are very polite and welcoming. But they will not offer secrets right away. They had never been asked about this before and they had never told anyone about it.

Q: Did it help to be a female reporter?

Continue reading here:
Women in Afghanistan, through a looking glass

India and Iran to build Chabahar port for better access to Afghanistan and Central Asia
India will float a company to develop Iran #39;s Chabahar Port, a government statement said on Saturday, as New Delhi aims to take advantage of a thaw in Tehran #39;s relations with world powers. ...

By: GURUdev

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India and Iran to build Chabahar port for better access to Afghanistan and Central Asia - Video